The holiday season is quickly approaching. Every year we face it: patients with expiring vision insurance and flexible spending accounts before the year ends. And it doesn’t always bring out the joy and merriment for everyone. For many optical shops, these days are akin to Black Friday crowds after Thanksgiving (okay, slight exaggeration). They are exciting, busy, and can be quite profitable. But even a steady flow of customers can also overwhelm a small staff. Last month I described ways to prepare your office and patients to help plan for a successful season. This month, I want to address how to manage best the chaos of the holidays with your staff.

Before joining the optical world, I worked in a restaurant. Although the jobs couldn’t be more different, the similarities between handling a high volume of clients can be handled in a similar manner. With the right preparation, the day can flow smoothly and with minimal stress.

Working in a restaurant is like preparing for battle on a daily basis. You should be expecting a lot of hungry patrons, but in a restaurant they all descend on you at the same time. So naturally it is fast paced, chaotic and problems will surely be encountered. Our offices can be quite frantic in the same ways. What is important is keeping your head, balancing your priorities, and taking a deep breath while you’re in the weeds (restaurant slang for getting behind when it’s busy).

Start by creating a plan for days you expect to be busy. This plan will ensure that you continue providing top quality service, no matter the circumstances. For example, our front desk staff are the flow managers (similar to a hostess station) to sort patient needs. They are responsible for directing patients where to go: patient pre-testing, seeing a doctor, speaking to an optician or picking up contacts. They also have the important job of creating a time expectation – if the doctor is behind due to a medical emergency, or if they are 3rd in line to speak with an optician, they let the patient know. No one is happy when they unexpectedly wait 20 minutes for service.

No matter the circumstances, it is important that your staff remains calm and not feel overwhelmed. A smooth day can happen with solid communication and teamwork. When it gets busy, our front desk staff starts a list of who is next and what they need (again think hostess/greeter). They will pull trays and case eyeglass dispenses in order of who is next, to save opticians time from running around (similar to a bartender making cocktails for your server). They offer to make patients a latte or coffee drink from our in-house Keurig. You don’t get that sort of service in a restaurant, and definitely not for free. It also creates a memorable experience while taking the patients’ mind off of the time they’ve been waiting.

Restaurants pay for the most current and precise point of sale systems for generating customer orders and communicating with the kitchen (or optical lab). This feature ensures order accuracy and saves time. Certain EHR software program automatically bills insurance and transmits eyewear orders as they are placed. If you don’t have such a system in your office, you should seriously consider getting one to increase office productivity. It can be a timely investment initially but saves massive amounts of time and energy on the back end. By utilizing these systems you drastically cut down the amount of work done at the end of the day. The most important lesson I learned working in a restaurant is to expect mistakes to happen. The key to the problem lies in how you handle it and if you can save the situation and not cause more headaches elsewhere. If you don’t have a plan to deal with or escalate patient problems, come up with one now. Problems need to be handled quickly and efficiently, especially when you are busy. Remove the necessity of having management step in to solve a problem. Determine what kinds of situations commonly happen and give your staff direction and the authority to make decisions and take action.

The take-away points are: fess up and apologize for making a mistake, don’t blame others, and determine the best solution (for you and the patient) to move forward.

When I started work in the restaurant industry, I had no idea how to handle some of these stressful situations. I was admittedly not ready for the fast pace but with practice I was able to learn how to manage the chaos. Many personalities thrive in this type of high-pressure environment and it’s okay if you don’t operate that way. Stop and take a breath. Lean on your veterans for support. Remember that it’s only temporary. The most important parallel between working in an optical and serving in a restaurant is both fields must focus on customer service, first and foremost.

Take a lesson from your wait staff next time you’re out to eat. And make sure to tip them accordingly for their service.

Alex Bennett, ABOM. Alex graduated from Colorado State University in 2007 with a degree in Natural Resources Management. He has been an optician since 2008 and currently works in the Denver metro area. Alex is also a contributing blogger for DailyOptician.com and is completing prerequisite courses in order to qualify for optometry school. In his free time, he enjoys running, rock climbing and traveling.